Omaha
MIAA Championship
Mavericks Sprint To MIAA Indoor Track Championship
Mar 1, 2009 | General, Track & Field
WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Sprinter #Pinar Saka# turned in a dominating performance to lead the UNO indoor track and field team to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's Indoor Track and Field Championship on Sunday afternoon at the University of Central Missouri. Saka scored a meet-high 30.5 points to lead all female and male participants. The Mavericks won the final event of the day to edge runner-up Missouri Southern State University by one and a half points.
The Mavericks entered the final day of competition in last place in the nine-team meet but scored 87.5 points to finish with 94 points. Missouri Southern had 92.5 points while Central Missouri took third place with 77.5 points. It is the first MIAA championship for any UNO team. This is the Mavericks' first y
Saka took first place in both the 400 meter dash and the 600 yard run while placing second in the 60 meter dash. The native of Istanbul, Turkey also was a member of UNO's winning 4 x 440 yard relay team.
The day was marked by high drama. The Mavericks had three finishers in the 200 meter dash to take the lead in the meet by six and a half points over Southern. But in the next event, UNO did not have any runners score in the 3,000 meter run, allowing Missouri Southern to retake the lead by seven and a half points.
UNO went into the 4 x 440 relay needing a win and a finish by Southern no higher than sixth place. The Lions finished in sixth, and the Mavericks routed the competition in the fast heat of the relay. The quartet of #Kayla Koepke#, #Jolene Smith#, #Anja Puc# and Saka finished in a time of 3:52.97, more than eight seconds ahead of second-place Northwest Missouri State.
Earlier in the day, Saka won the 400 in a time of 55.69. Following a 15 minute break, she ran 1:27.25 in the 600 yard run to cap a remarkable 20 minute stretch. She edged runner up Carita Riutta of Missouri Southern by .02 seconds.
Puc had a strong showing for the Mavericks as well. In addition to running with Saka on the relay, she finished second in the 800 meter run behind Venessa Lee of Pittsburg State who ran a meet record time of 2:11.66. Ironically, Puc has run a faster time in the 800 this year, but she finished the MIAA race in a time of 2:16.54. The native of Medvode, Slovenia was third in the 400 with a time of 57.33.
#Maja Mihalinec# won the 60 meter dash in a time of 7.70, edging a second-pace Saka by .06 seconds. Mihalinec also finished the 200 with a time of 25.49, trailing only Shaina Dochterman of Truman State who finished in 25.18.
In addition to Mihalinec, Koepke finished the 200 in fourth with a time of 26.00, tying teammate #Shannon Moore# who was awarded fifth.
The Mavericks now prepare for the NCAA Division II national championship meet to be held in Houston, Texas on March 13 and 14.
